


Inevitable

by cupidty11



Category: Gravity Falls, ParaNorman (2012), Parapines - Fandom
Genre: M/M
Language: English
Status: In-Progress
Published: 2013-03-10
Updated: 2013-06-29
Packaged: 2017-12-04 21:33:23
Rating: Not Rated
Warnings: No Archive Warnings Apply
Chapters: 4
Words: 1,955
Publisher: archiveofourown.org
Story URL: https://archiveofourown.org/works/715325
Author URL: https://archiveofourown.org/users/cupidty11/pseuds/cupidty11
Summary: <blockquote class="userstuff">
              <p>Sometimes Dipper caught Norman looking at him with those big blue eyes. And sometimes Norman would wake up with his friend curled around his waist.</p>
            </blockquote>





	1. Chapter 1

They met when they were young, full of that reckless energy, eyes wide and minds even wider. It was an awkward first meeting, filled with long silences that only got longer until Mabel stepped in. 

But, eventually they realized they had more in common than they would've believed. It was crazy how fast Norman found himself running along with them through the trees, hunting some sort of creature. It was a blur of sleep overs, pillow fights, sticky ice cream, laughter that hurt and adrenaline. 

Sometimes Dipper caught Norman looking at him with those big blue eyes. And sometimes Norman would wake up with his friend curled around his waist. 

When Mabel and Dipper found out about his gift, he expected them to run since about 80% of the people he'd ever met had. But, as he waited with baited breath for them to…scream? Run? Call him a freak? They exchanged a glance that only twins could pull off and in unison smiled. Mabel launched immediately into asking him questions and Norman looked back at Dipper, he had a soft look on his face as though he understood. That was the first time his stomach fluttered stupidly.

The years swooped by faster than anyone could keep count of and they were never idle. How could anyone be with smooth talking yetis and insane vampires running amok? The three of them became a team, working off of one another. Norman knew what having friends were like but, this was a whole new level. He felt like he…belonged. Something he'd never felt before. 

They kissed. Halloween night under the cover of a billion stars and Dipper's lame ghost costume, lips tasting like candy and soda, excitement and terror. What is happening? He's my friend. Probably my best friend. The lake water churned next to them, crickets chirped. It was the barest of touches and it only lasted for a second but it hit them both like lightening. 

They avoided each other for a few days afterward though of course, each thinking in the worst terms, worrying until they hardly slept. Dipper was the first to give in surpisingly enough as he'd been having a minor crisis about his sexuality while Norman was just scared that he'd ruined his relationship with his best friend. But, early Tuesday morning, four days after their first kiss, Dipper knocked on the Babcock's door and asked for Norman who came to the door, reluctantly. 

A quick once over of dark circles under eyes and slumped frame they both knew they'd been suffering horribly. Norman tried to sputter something out about how he was sorry and it would never happen again before Dipper shut him up by kissing him. 

After that they held hands when they walked down to the diner, talked with their heads close and nodded in sync as Mabel rambled. They never really kissed in public since Norman got too embarrassed but, there might be a small peck here or there, usually when Dipper found his boyfriend particularly adorable. They often watched various hokey paranormal shows on the old tv and giggled at how stupid it was while sharing popcorn, letting their hands linger in the bowl, falling asleep on the couch and waking up in each other's arms.

It wasn't always easy, as seems to be the case with all relationships. There were fights, mainly because neither of them had much relationship experience. And the fights usually happened during the fall when they had to talk over phone and the internet. 

When he had school back home and when Norman was left to say goodbye and watch them drive away. Those were cold times when Dipper sometimes woke up freezing in the middle of the night, reaching out for someone who wasn't there. And Norman had the worst nightmares he'd ever had when fall came around. They were interspersed with oil slicks that poured from every corner. Drowning everything, choking him and suffocating him. Sometimes he died. But, most of the time he woke up whimpering Dipper's name, the blankets smothering him. 

But, when school was finally over and the Pines twins returned to what had become their home away from home, the first thing they did was race down the street toward the Babcocks' house, knocking at the door with giant grins. It swung open and only a few seconds passed before they were nearly thrown backwards with the force of Norman's hug. 

Dipper and Norman looked into each other's eyes, giggling with the excitement of seeing each other after all these months and Mabel looked away because she knew what was coming next. Time to go say hi to her fabulous friends, Candy and Grenda.

Norman's finger's curled into the other boy's thick hair and brought him down for a forceful kiss. They reunited and remembered why they were together, let go of all the stupid things they fought about and shared their air.

They climbed to the Mystery Shack's roof and laid out to watch the stars. The blankets kept them warm from the breeze that whistled through the trees. Norman listened with rapt attention about his boyfriend's school and how crazy everyone was. Dipper stroked his boyfriend's hair as he recounted his nightmares.

But, it would be okay. They could ignore the school bullies and make the nightmares go away. They could fight a hundred zombies and fix all the lost ghosts. They could climb mountains and listen to girly pop music and drink hot chocolate and defeat all the evils that they encountered…because they were together and everything was okay.


	2. Laundry Day

Life was hectic. Not that Norman was complaining. It was much better, running around, solving mysteries and raising hell than moping around inside, with nothing to do. Which is what his summers used to be like before meeting the Pines twins. 

But, now they spent every single day of the week, going through Dipper’s old book, investigating the strange town of Gravity Falls and stirring up old grudges, memories and spirits.   
It was a wonder they got any sleep (often time they’d just fall into bed, Mabel at the end, curled up like a cat and Norman nestled against Dipper who snored). But, there was one day, one day out of the month where everything was put on hold because they had no clothes yet that weren’t dirty, caked with mud, blood and slime, or cupcake batter. 

Laundry day. For Norman anyway, it was blissful. They went to the local Laund-o-Rama, filled with patrons and the smell of soap. The humming of the washing/drying machines felt almost hypnotic. They’d sit by the windows, fingers intertwined, talking and sometimes they’d get frozen yogurt from across the street. Dipper always put way too much soap in and Norman would fold the clothes. Then Mabel would re-fold them. 

It was a rare, peaceful day that he wouldn’t trade for the world.


	3. Hello

For Mabel, words came easily and the first, well first proper word she said to the new, frazzled addition to their group, rolled off her tongue like it had been said to him a thousand times.

Norman was still breathing heavily from the run through the forest, twigs stuck out from his hair and the two siblings in front of him stared back, panting. One of them, with long brown hair and bright eyes, an even brighter smile filled with braces, and she was dressed in a long sweater (although he didn’t know how she could stand the heat considering it was at least 80 degrees out) with a cat-poptart hybrid on it.

The other one, a boy, had short brown hair, covered up with a blue and white baseball cap, khaki shorts, and orange t-shirt and a blue vest. Though they looked very similar, they were different in a very fundamental way. Their attitudes and the way they breathed, stood and how the one called Mabel was acting as though this was an everyday thing, to run away from a fanged creature through the forest with someone you hardly knew, where as Dipper, stared at him with a mixture of confusion, suspicion and curiosity.

For Norman, that first ‘hello’ stuttered its way out, through heaving breaths. And for Dipper, that first hello, came in the form of ‘Just what in the hell were you doing out there in the middle of the forest at night don’t you know you could be killed wow you must be stupid.’

Though, bad at greetings, they somehow managed to make a good enough impression that Norman wound up spending his entire summer, in one shape or another with the Pines twins.


	4. Chapter 4

Gravity Falls had the amazing ability of highlighting a person’s true nature. It came with all the constant danger. It made you question your priorities, figure out who and occasionally, what, you wanted to be. For Dipper, it changed drastically from a prison to a mystery and finally to a sort of haven. Along the way, he’d discovered himself.

Finding out he’d do anything to protect his sister, that he trusted her more than anyone else in the world, that he’d rather be true to himself than stand up to any phony ‘man’ standards, and finally that he had a knack for the paranormal. Whether it be investigating, fighting or studying it. Norman fit into all those categories.

Norman Babcock was a medium of the highest caliber and when he came to Gravity Falls that first summer (they arrived on the same day, the same time and stared out at the landscape nearly ten miles away from each other), he was there to visit distant relatives, the kind who you hear about in passing but, you never expect to meet. Well, Norman met them, his great aunt Patty and uncle Fonzo, were kind and eccentric.

Though, the reason for him being there wasn’t just to meet said long lost relatives but, to get away from the claustrophobic surroundings of his home town, Blithe Hollow. Not, that things hadn’t gotten a thousand times better, since the incident. But, now ghosts knew he could help them move on and they came from all over and though Norman did his best to help, he hardly got a moment’s peace.

New surroundings could help.

Though looking out at the seemingly normal streets of Gravity Falls, that notion was being slowly burned to ashes, as faded silhouettes of lost souls drifted to and fro. There was ten times more than there had been back in Blithe Hollow and that was incredible, given its bloody history.

What was going on? Why was tiny, off the map Gravity Falls surrounded by more dead than a grave yard? Shudders ran up his spine, though the day was warm. Distantly, he heard his aunt calling his name but, the feeling of dread remained. There was something weird here. Slowly, a knot was forming in his gut. It was attached to a rope that tugged him forward and towards some unknown destination. Where?

Norman wanted to walk, to find out but, a solid hand on his shoulder stunned him from that daze. His great uncle with the wrinkled, kind face and deep voice like a movie announcer’s. “Are you okay, kiddo? Pat’s been callin’ for ya.”

The teen did his best to smile, though he felt it probably fell flat. “Yeah, I’m fine…” Together they walked inside, his uncle telling him all about the great attractions to be had in their tiny town. Fishing in Scuttlebutt lake, hiking up the mountains, funky diners and a place called the Mystery Shack…

That summer Dipper’s priorities shifted drastically. And Norman picked up the pieces of himself, becoming whole with a little help from two wonderful twins.


End file.
